Klarinet Archive - Posting 000174.txt from 1996/10

From: Steve Prescott <mipresc@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: CO2 influencing pitch
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 15:28:53 -0400

Ian Dilley wrote:

>I don't think this is true. Surely its the speed of sound in the column of
>gas inside the clarinet and probably inside the player that is relevant
>here not the gas through which it travels to your ears. If you breathe in
>helium and then speak your voice is higher pitched. You don't have to fill
>the entire room with helium to get the effect.

Ok, this is sound logic. Pitch is dependent, to some extent, upon
atmospheric pressure. Also the density (?) or composition of the gasses
through which the sound travels also has an affect on the sound (tone,
pitch etc). We all breath in the air around us but the way or bodies use it
is different. I may not breath out as much C02 as Ian and the pitch could
be affected by this. I think, however, that unless the concentration of CO2
is great, the pitch discrepancy would be negligible.

Remember, I'm not a scientist, I just play one on TV.

Steve.

Steve Prescott
Instrument Rep.Tech./ Clarinetist
Indiana State University
mipresc@-----.edu